The field of the invention relates generally to methods and systems for manufacturing an axle and, more particularly, to methods and systems for manufacturing an axle for a railcar using a continuous operation that includes forging, machining, heat treating, and inspecting the axle.
The process of manufacturing an axle for a railcar generally includes several sub-processes, including heating, forging, heat treating, machining, and inspecting. At least some known axle manufacturing processes are not continuous operations. These known axle manufacturing processes are performed within different buildings and/or at different locations. In some cases, these known axle manufacturing processes are not continuous operations because the axle being produced must be given time to cool after being forged and after the heat treating process. These known processes do not include a process for continuously cooling an axle after forging while the axle moves to the next step in the manufacturing processes.
Moreover, these known axle manufacturing processes are also typically performed in different locations in a non-continuous fashion to prevent dirt and dust formed during forging and/or heat treating from interfering with machining the axle. For example, the heat produced during forging and/or heat treating an axle may adversely affect the machines used during the machining and/or inspection processes. Accordingly, at least some known manufacturing systems perform a forging process in a first building, perform a heat treating process in a second building, and perform a machining process in a third building. At least one known manufacturing system may perform forging and heat treating in the same building, however, machining is still performed in a separate building; and often times at a separate location. None of these known processes for manufacturing an axle are a continuous process, wherein the axle continuously moves from heating, to forging, to heat treating, to machining, to final inspection. Because these known manufacturing processes are performed either within different buildings or at different locations, and not in a continuous fashion, the number of axles that these known processes are capable of producing per day is limited and the cost associated with these processes is high.
As discussed above, the known axle manufacturing processes include a significant amount of time for cooling the axles between forging and heat treating and/or between heat treating and machining. At least one known cooling method includes cooling axles under a layer of dirt for two to three days before the axles are transported to the next manufacturing process. Such cooling further reduces the number of axles per day that can be manufactured by known processes. Moreover, known manufacturing processes employ a significant number of skilled people to operate machines within the manufacturing process. Manually operating the machines depending on the type of axle being produced may further slow the manufacturing time of an axle. This lack of automation in these known processes further reduces output and increases production costs.